Let’s face it, stories about people falling in love, getting high on drugs and enjoying stunning mountain views only take you so far. There hasn’t been a movie made yet that begins “And they will all live happily ever after..”

There’s way more juice in hearing about the nightmare stories, the hell trips when everything that could go wrong did. So we want to hear about your worst journeys, your near-death experiences, when you were robbed, beaten up, extorted, heartbroken or brainwashed.

Ok, here are the guidelines – read them carefully or we may just bin your entry. Editors are really, but really, busy people – don’t piss them off.

Contest Guidelines

1. Stories should be between 800 and 1500 words and sent as .doc or .rtf files.

2. No fiction.

3. Enclose your name, age and whatever you consider to be your nationality.

4. Please, please have a good read of Road Junky first. It’ll improve your chances if you know what kind of voice we look for. “How My Photos of Niagara Falls Got Deleted” is unlikely to win.

5. Closing date for entries is December 31st 2008. Winners will be chosen when we’ve recovered from our hangovers.

Please email your submissions to editor@roadjunky.com with the words “2008 Travel Contest” in the subject.

All shortlisted entries will be published on the site and we may even let readers vote for the winning entry.

Prizes

First Prize – $400

Second Prize – $200

Third Prize – $100

Our decision is final and whilst you keep copyright, you allow us exclusive electronic rights i.e. don’t just send us something you wrote for another site. We want to see cool, original work.

If we choose to print your stories at some stage in an anthology you’ll get paid decent royalties – we’re into supporting writers.